The FTSE 100 Index continued rising this week, reaching its highest level since March 2nd, as investors reacted to key corporate earnings and the upcoming Bank of England (BoE) interest rate decision. It jumped to 10,782, up by 12% from its lowest level in March this year.
Top FTSE 100 Index companies to publish its earnings
The Footsie Index is reacting to several important earnings announcements from some of the biggest companies in the UK. AstraZeneca stock jumped on Monday after releasing strong numbers, helped by its cancer and rare disease drugs. Its numbers reinforced the view that it will hit the $80 billion revenue target by 2030. The CEO said:
“We’re building a company that will not just deliver on its 2030 ambition, but continue to grow well into the next decade. We have the science, we have the pipeline, and we have the team to make this happen.”
More companies have published strong results. In a statement, Unilever said that its revenue jumped in the second quarter, helped by higher volume and prices. Its sales growth jumped by 5.8% in the second quarter, higher than the expected 4.3%.
Barclays, on the other hand, released strong numbers, helped by its trading and investment banking division. Its investment banking division made over 4 billion pounds in the quarter, higher than the expected 3.7 billion. It also boosted its full-year income from 31 billion pounds to 31.5 billion pounds.
As a result, it hiked the 1 billion pound share buyback, up from the previous 831 million pounds. Barclays has benefited from the ongoing deal-making and trading activity in the US and Europe.
Standard Chartered, BAT, LSEG, and Lloyds Bank earnings ahead
Looking ahead, more companies will publish their financial results. Standard Chartered, a large banking group, will release its numbers on Wednesday. Like Barclays, the company is expected to release strong numbers as interest rates have remained at an elevated level.
More companies like British American Tobacco (BAT), Lloyds Bank, London Stock Exchange, Anglo American, Haleon, NatWest, and IAG will release their numbers. Most of these companies are expected to release strong numbers.
Analysts expect Lloyds Bank to release strong numbers, with the consensus net income being 4.9 billion pounds. For the first half of the year, analysts expect the numbers to show that the net income hit 9.7 billion pounds.
NatWest, on the other hand, is expected to release a total income of 4.39 billion, with the profit for the period being 1.49 billion pounds.
In addition to these earnings, the FTSE 100 Index will react to the upcoming Bank of England (BoE) interest rate decision on Thursday.
FTSE 100 Index technical analysis
FTSE 100 Index chart | Source: TradingView
The daily timeframe chart shows that the Footsie Index has been in an uptrend in the past few months. It recently crossed the important resistance level of 10,682, the upper side of the ascending triangle pattern. This is one of the most common bullish continuation signs in technical analysis.
The stock has remained above the 50-day and 100-day Exponential Moving Averages (EMA). Also, the Relative Strength Index (RSI) has jumped and is nearing the overbought level of 70. Therefore, the index will likely continue rising as bulls target the all-time high of 10,930. A move above that level will point to further gains towards 11,000.
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